Following his tied eight finish at the Tour Championship, Tiger Woods reflects on the week at East Lake and his thoughts about this week's Ryder Cup.
Q. If someone had said to you right about this time last year you're going to have three big wins in 2012, what would your response have been at the time?
TIGER WOODS: Hopefully they were three majors (laughing). No, but considering where I was at last year, it's nice to be where I'm at now. I was obviously struggling with my health last year, and this year I was able to turn it around and I played some pretty good golf this year which was good.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about what positives you're going to take out of this this week getting into the Ryder Cup?
TIGER WOODS: More than anything, I think this week my short game was really dialed in this week. I chipped and putted really well. I need to hit the ball a little better than I hit it certainly this weekend. Hit it great the first day, but after that it wasn't very good, especially on the weekend. Just fought hard to get where I was at.
Q. Given your success on the course, are you really disappointed or surprised at not finishing high up the board?
TIGER WOODS: If I hit the ball the way I did on the weekend, it wasn't very good. So I fought very hard just to shoot what I shot on the last couple of days. I shot under par, but, obviously, not enough.
Q. Off the tee mostly?
TIGER WOODS: Just everything. I just didn't have it this weekend. I wasn't sharp. On this golf course, you have to get the ball on the fairway. This Bermuda rough, you don't know what it's going to do. But even when I had it on the fairway, shots that I would normally hit inside 10, 15 feet were not there.
Q. Tiger, last year you were having so much fun with the guys in the Presidents Cup. How much do you relish that and look forward to the camaraderie in the upcoming week?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's so much fun. We don't really play it that often. Once you leave college, we do it once a year which is a shame, but it's fun. The Americans do it every year. The Europeans or internationals do it every other year. So we get to get together a little more frequently. It's a lot of fun for us because we get to know everyone on a different level. These cups bring out ‑ you build relationships that you have for the rest of your life because of these cups.
Q. Can you give it more than you can take it?
TIGER WOODS: It goes both ways. If you're going to give it, you've got to be able to take it. It's a lot of fun. There's always good ribbing. But we're a team. We're all in it together. We have one common goal and that is to go out and beat the Europeans.
Q. Did 6 play different today than it did the other day?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it was gusty out there. It was blowing in off the left, and I roasted a 5‑iron in there. Hit a low draw in there, and I had 188 to the front and I didn't even hit it 180. It didn't go very far.
Q. Was the wind an issue overall?
TIGER WOODS: No, it was tough today. It was blowing. Robert and I were talking about this today all day. We were just shocked at how slow the greens were. They really put a lot of water on them last night with the cooler air and less humidity, they were probably afraid that they might get a little bit away from them. We had a hard time getting putts to the hole today. They were just a little bit slower.
Q. In the past you've either won the FedExCup or you've not even been here. So this time you're going to be second, third or fourth, it looks like. What's that mean to not get either, I guess?
TIGER WOODS: Well, coming off the last couple years it's nice to be where I'm at and to be able to play in these things. I played well pretty much all four playoff events. I just had a rough last round at Barclays. But other than that, it was a pretty solid four tournaments.
Q. Physically, how do you feel heading into next week?
TIGER WOODS: I feel good. You know, it will be nice to shut it down tomorrow and gear up again because we've got a long, long week ahead of us. We're all going to need our energy and get our rest when we can.
